game play « The Don's Craptastic WorldThe Don's Craptastic World

26Sep/102

How to set up your computer for gameplay recording

I've gotten a few eMails complaining that it takes a huge tool on some users computer performance while recording pc game-play. I cannot speak for any other recording software except Fraps because that's all I use.

Fraps records video and audio unencoded, uncompressed, raw. That means the files are huge. 30 minutes of recorded gameplay footage are about 50-70 gigabyte large, and there's absolutely no way around that. Which brings me to my first point of this how-to: get a large HDD/SSD. I'm talking about 1 single HDD/SDD, specifically just for Fraps. 250 Gigabyte ought to do it. Recording video and audio uncompressed also means a huge tool on your computer initially.

Now, the trick is to set up your system in a way that Fraps, while recording, takes as little a tool as possible on your running game.

I have 3 HDDs. 1st HDD is partitioned in C, F, G. 2nd HDD is partitioned in E, H and 3rd HDD is unpartitioned, D. C is my System partition, H is my games partition and D is my Fraps HDD.

You see, 1 HDD for my system, 1 HDD for my games, 1 HDD for Fraps. They are all physically separated, which is imperative. Why am I doing it this way? When a game runs the read/write heads goes back and forth reading the game and deploying the data to your CPU/RAM/GPU. When Fraps records it causes the read/write heads to move around and write data on the HDD.

Now imagine you have a game running and Fraps recording on the same HDD/partition. That means the read/write head has to do double the work namely reading the game and writing the recording (in simplified terms, realistically it's more than double the work) on the HDD which in turn translates into FPS drops and "lags" in the game. And remember, recording uncompressed with Fraps already takes a huge tool on your computer.

So ideally you'd want your game running on one HDD and Fraps recording on another, physically separated, (unpartitioned) HDD. Another important point is the swap/page file. Make absolutely sure your swap/page file is not on the same HDD as Fraps or your games are. I've my swap/page file stowed on C: .

It took me a bit experimenting back then but all this lead to a more stable, even increased, FPS while a massive drop in "lags". It may not work for each and every one of you, but it did for me.

On a side note: Perhaps some of you are using SSDs and can share your experiences? I don't have a SSD, yet, so I can't say how well it works on SSDs.

Filed under: Tips and Tricks 2 Comments

25Sep/090

Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla & Batman: Arkham Asylum – Videos and Screenshots!

I had some time on my hands to kill, so I decided to waste it with recording Red Faction: Guerrilla, Resident Evil 5 and Batman: Arkham Asylum gameplay videos and its cut-scenes/cinematics.

I've played mostly Red Faction: Guerrilla. This game is simply awesome. The fact that you can destroy pretty much anything in the environments invites some serious tactics. For example planting remote-exploded bombs under a bridge and killing passing enemies by blowing said bridge at the right moment.

Or blowing up huge smokestacks at the right moment only to watch said smokestack fall on a patrolling enemy car, following by exploding said car, throwing exploding car into the next enemy crowd. Resident Evil 5, however awesome this game is and Batman's super-awesome free flow combat system simply can't beat this for me!

That being said, Resident Evil 5 and Batman: Arkham Asylum are both awesome games! Batman even more so if you have a Nvidia GPU allowing you to play with PhysX enabled. Gives an even more eerie feeling when traveling in damp, dark corridors!

As for Resident Evil 5:

I recorded all 53 in-game cut-scene cinematics from Resident Evil 5. During the recording I switched the costumes (Chris: Warrior, Safari. Sheva: Clubbin', Business) and filters (default, retro, classic horror).

Sadly only 3 gameplay videos! Maybe I'll record a few more, when and if I play Resident Evil 5. The game is great, don't get me wrong. But it has very little replay-value for me. Since I played the game through I can replay all chapters. If you want me to replay a specific chapter, throw me a mail, tweet, dent, or leave a comment!

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Gameplay
Batman: Arkham Asylum - Screenshots

Red Faction: Guerrilla - Gameplay
Red Faction: Guerrilla - Cinematics
Red Faction: Guerrilla - Screenshots

Resident Evil 5 - Gameplay
Resident Evil 5 - All 53 cut-scenes
Resident Evil 5 - Screenshots

Filed under: PC Games No Comments

18Jul/090

Trine – A platform game utilizing physics

I'm not easily swayed and fascinated by a game. The last one that really, and I mean REALLY, fascinated me was Baldur's Gate 2 and Fallout. Since then there have been a lot of good and very good games, but no diamonds so far. That is, until now. Trine, man I tells ya, 'tis game just amazes me.

Perhaps it is because this game so much reminds me of my childhood where I used to play The Lost Vikings, I'm a sucker for nostalgia all right. It should be mentioned the new Monkey Island Remake "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition" is just as awesome!

Or perhaps because this game simply is so awesome. Trine is almost just like The Lost Vikings. You get to play a mage, who conjures boxes, bridges and platforms, who moves objects with his hands, a thief who uses exploding arrows and swings with her rope, and a warrior who uses brute force to smash through the enemy hordes.

The only difference between The Lost Vikings and Trine is that Trine uses "real" physics in order for you to solve the puzzles and that you have instant access to all 3 heroes from anywhere whenever you want. That means you don't have to move the mage first, then the warrior, then the thief. You move as "one". Press "1" the mages comes out, Press "2" the thief goes, Press "3" the warrior appears.

The story behind Trine is somewhat fuzzy. The 3 characters are captured inside a crystal, which is why you have access to all 3 of them anywhere, anytime. Evil spreads throughout the world, you have to beat the evil in order to be freed from the crystal. Quite cliche I know.

Throughout the levels you earn experience and you can loot items from chests. Earned experience results in level gain for each character. Earned points from level ups in turn can be spent to expand each characters abilities. Looted items can be distributed freely between characters in order to make them more powerful.

I can't stress physics enough, it's not the focus of Trine but it is a huge part of the game. You WILL have to make use of it's physics to solve the puzzles.

The only downsize is, Trine is way, way too short. Only 20 levels and the game is done. How fast you do each level depends on the difficulty your set and your ability to solve puzzles. Still I feel 20 levels are too few.

Anyway if you seek a great, amazing platform puzzle-solving game then Trine is just that. I made a few 720p HD game play clips while I was playing it. Enjoy!

Game Play #1: Part 1/2, Part 2/2
Game Play #2: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3
Game Play #3: Part 1/3, Part 2/3, Part 3/3

Filed under: PC Games No Comments

28Jun/090

The Hillbillies invade Fallout 3 – “Point Lookout” HD gameplay clips!

As you can probably imagine I'm currently playing the 3rd new DLC, "Point Lookout". It's Bethesda's 4th one and many more may come (I guess I was wrong, 5 is enough!).

Point Lookout takes you to an isolated island, it is Fallout 3's equivalent of Point Lookout State Park. An amusement park, with a huge carousel surrounded by a damp swamp and an old lighthouse overlooking it. It gives off an eerie feeling.

And the bonus: remember the Pint-Sized Slasher? Perhaps Point Lookout, Maryland is where the Slasher originated.

The whole DLC is somewhat horror / thriller themed. The nuclear bombs did not fall on Point Lookout, but the island was simply forgotten and left to its own resources.

New monsters are present, the Swampfolk, inbreed hillbillies with hostile attitude toward the player, such as Trackers, Creepers/Scrappers and Brawlers/Bruisers. Even a swamp variant of ghouls and mirelurks. Oh, and a new set of humans too, the Tribals.

Of course new quest-able perks are added, although nothing huge, still funny to have and weapons such as double barrel shotguns, axes and shovels.

Because so many Confederates died during the American Civil War on Point Lookout, you'll find Confederate Hats by the thousands.

All in all, I can only recommend this DLC! The 5th DLC "Mothership Zeta" is coming in July August, and will supposedly involve the crashed alien ship and not so friendly extraterrestrials.

Gameplay clips:
The Local Flavor (Calvert's Mansion): Part 1/2, Part 2/2
Exploding Calvert Mansion

Filed under: PC Games No Comments

18Apr/090

Braid – A lovely jump ‘n’ run puzzle adventure!

Braid

Just thought I'd share great indie game with you. Braid is the name, a lovely jump 'n' run puzzle adventure. This game was released in August 2006 on XBox Live Arcade, but just recently, on April 10th 2009, came to the PC platform.

It's played by solving physical puzzles in a platform game environment much similar to that of Super Mario Bros. . Tim the Protagonist runs, jumps and climbs across the game's level while avoid being touched by plants, enemies and whatnot. Just like in Super Mario Bros. .

One of the unique game feature is the unlimited ability to control and manipulate time. Tim can reverse time and in essence go back where he just was moments ago. A great feature if you just got killed by an enemy; simply reverse the time and continue from there on again.

The game world is divided into 7 smaller worlds with an extra, what you may call, overworld in form of Tim's house. The various worlds are entered through doors from Tim's house.

What's much more fascinating are the graphics. Although it's only 2D, the graphics are simply amazing. And the music, don't get me started on it. Perfect composition between graphics, music and levels. Which is why Braid got such high review scores!

The PC version of Braid comes with another great extra: an Editor! Players can create whole custom worlds for others to play in.

It truly is a great game for the occasional play session. Give it a try!

I made a short gameplay clip from World 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKMCEBXYzY

Filed under: PC Games No Comments

17Apr/090

Demigod – Can you smell what “The Rook” is cookin’? [HD gameplay clips]

Demigod has been out since April 14th 2009 and some of my friends are playing it like crazy. Although I loathe strategy games this one fascinates me.

Perhaps it's those RPG elements or perhaps it's the whole mix of RPG, strategy and tactic.

The game itself is not a pure strategy game. It has RPG elements where you can buy stuff and arm your chosen demigod and of course it has the usual strategy elements you'd expect, but not all of them.

Demigod plays different from your standard Real Time Strategy game like StarCraft, WarCraft, Company of Heroes, etc.

It plays different because you don't control units. You control 1 single unit, your chosen demigod. Perhaps Demigod can be compared to Warcraft 3 with Defense of the Ancients (DotA).

There are 2 types of demigods you can chose from: Assassins and Generals.

Assassin demigods are made to me more of an RPG character who fight on its own. While the General demigods are made to be for RTS play since they can summon units who help fight alongside the General.

The Assassin demigods are Rook, Unclean Beast, Torchbearer and Regulus and the Generals are Vampire Lord, Sedna, Oak and Queen of the Thorns. It's been said on the official forums that 2 more playable demigods are coming out later in a content patch.

There is no campaign mode as most of you may be used to. This game focuses heavily on multiplayer. Although you can play a solo tournament, it's pretty boring, even in its hardest mode. Multiplayer is where the fun is!

There are 4 different match modes you can play: